Posted by The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) said that the President, Vice President and other public officials who are about to leave their positions do not have to tell anyone about what they own.
Veronica Kato, a leader in the CCB, said in an interview that officials don’t have to declare their assets but can choose to do so if they want.
Kato said that the Bureau can only share asset papers with the court in case an official is being investigated for corruption related to his/her assets.
She spoke.
The information about the things that these government workers own cannot be shared with the public. There is a rule for the CCB and we can’t do it because of that rule. This happens because the assets declaration has to follow certain rules.
The people who work for the government have to fill out a form saying what they own, but the rules from the National Assembly don’t let us share this information with everyone yet. Also, it’s a secret paper that no one else should see.
If people ask for proof about what money an official has, then the information should be given.
If someone in charge decides they want others to know, they will tell them. We have been around for more than 25 years. We can’t disclose our declared assets because we’re not allowed to do so.
When the current President and their assistant got their jobs, they decided to tell everyone what they owned. They chose to do that. Only they can choose to share their assets publicly when they go away.
Our job is to make sure that people who work for the government tell us about their things. We keep their papers about their things safe and check that they are telling the truth. If we think something is wrong, we look into it and might take them to court if they broke the rules. That’s what we mainly do.
Kato explained that if people think public officials bought more houses before starting their job, they can show proof. Anyone can do this.
She spoke.
If someone thinks that another person got their money illegally and used their job to do it, they can give proof and ask the CCB to look into it. The CCB will check what was said before versus what they have now.
“If we can prove for sure that these things were obtained illegally, then we will bring the case to court.”